Sentencing again delayed in 6-year-old fatal DUI in rural Sterling

MORRISON – The sentencing hearing for a former Milledgeville man who drove drunk and killed a woman nearly six years ago has been delayed a second time.

Douglas M. Strehlow’s blood alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit when he hit a car on Aug. 19, 2017, causing the death of Summer D. Harmon, 40, of Sterling, three days later.

Strehlow, 49 and now of Sterling, pleaded guilty Nov. 22 to aggravated DUI resulting in death. Per a plea agreement, a second count was dismissed.

He faces three to 14 years in prison, with a requirement that he serve 85% of the term levied.

He was to be sentenced on March 10 in Whiteside County Court, but on March 8, that hearing was moved to June 7.

Strehlow underwent back surgery on March 1, and his alcohol detection monitor, which he was required to wear on his ankle in the wake of his plea, was removed. Because of supply chain issues, Whiteside County Court Services did not at the time have another monitor available to reattach, court records show.

Tuesday, the sentencing was struck to accommodate ongoing physical therapy resulting from the surgery, according to the court order.

A status hearing will be held on July 5, at which time the sentencing hearing before Judge Trish Senneff might be rescheduled.

Strehlow was southbound on state Route 40 in rural Sterling, just north of Fulfs Road, at about 2:40 a.m. when his pickup crossed the center line and collided nearly head-on with Harmon’s car. She died of blunt force trauma on Aug. 22, 2017, in a Wisconsin hospital.

According to testimony from then-Whiteside County sheriff Sgt. Kris Schmidt, Strehlow told the first officer to arrive that the crash “was all my fault.”

He consented to a blood draw at the scene and his blood also was drawn at CGH Medical Center. The State Police lab put the first BAC at .229; the legal limit is .08. The second blood draw result was .270, Schmidt testified.

Strehlow was arrested on June 2, 2018, and held on $500,000 bond; that was reduced to $300,000 on Sept. 28, 2018, and two years later, on Sept. 4, 2020, he posted $30,000 and was freed pending sentencing.

A civil suit accusing him and two of the bars that served him of Harmon’s wrongful death still is proceeding; a case management conference is set for Oct. 2.